Week #29

Happy New Year!
  
 Well this week was Chinese New Year. Which is great for our stomachs, but not for missionary work. Proselyting this whole week is pretty much like proselyting of Christmas day in America. Not a lot of people willing to talk to you. But it has been a great opportunity for us to get to know some of the ward members better!

   Also this week they changed the missionary schedule! So on Pdays I will be emailing a lot earlier. Some other changes are that we plan in the morning, and do personal study. Then we find time outside of the apartment to do companionship and language study. Also because we don't plan at night anymore, we can go to sleep at 9:30 if we want :) 

   Well there really isn't much news other than that because we couldn't meet with anyone this week. But there is something interesting that I was reading in a Liahona. It talked about how do I know if I have been forgiven. And one of the answers that was given was when you feel the Spirit. I don't know why but I had never thought of it like this before. You are not able to feel the Spirit if you are unclean, so when we feel the Spirit we know we are forgiven. That was just something I thought was really cool. Love you all! HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!​

博長老 Elder Bosco

Taiwan Taichung Mission 16-18

[I was able to get a little more information from him: The people in the pictures are ward members and he ate black chicken. I googled it and it was a very interesting bird. He said it tasted like regular chicken.] He also sent me his new schedule

NEW DAILY SCHEDULE
6:30 AM - Arise
6:30-10:00 AM - 
Pray, Exercise (30 Mins), Shower, Eat Breakfast, Prepare for the day, Plan (30 Minutes), Personal Study (60 Minutes)

10:00 AM- 9:00 - 
Proselyte, Companionship Study (30-60 Mins), Language Study (60 Mins), First Twelve Weeks (30 Mins), Lunch (30 Mins) Dinner (60 Mins)

9:00 PM - Return to Apartment
9:00-9:30 PM - 
Write in your Journal, Prepare for Bed, Pray

9:30-10:30 PM - Retire to Bed

NEW PREPARATION DAY SCHEDULE
6:30 AM - Arise
6:30-8:00 AM
Pray, Shower, Eat Breakfast, Prepare for the day, Plan (30 Minutes), Personal Study (30 Minutes)

8:00 AM-6:00 PM
Preparation Day activities, including:
Laundry, Grocery shopping, Cleaning of Apartment, Communicating with family, Letter to Mission President/Key Indicators, Lunch and Dinner, Study, Recreation and Exercise, Prepare to proselyte

6:00-9:00 PM - Proselyte

9:00 PM - Return to Apartment (unless teaching a lesson)
9:00-9:30 PM - 
Write in your Journal, Prepare for Bed, Pray

9:30-10:30 PM - Retire to Bed

Week #28

   The highlight of the week was that Megan got baptized! I had the opportunity to baptize her which was really special. The first time I taught Megan was 120 days before her baptism. So although her progression was slower than the average person. I was still really able to see how prayer, and the Book of Mormon have really influenced her life. The Spirit was really strong throughout the entire service, especially when she bore her testimony after. 

   

This last P-day we got to go to Buddha Mountain. Which is an extremely large Buddha museum in Taiwan. It was really cool, but we also got a lot of odd stares from the people there. Also funny story: that day we met a kid and his English name was Anson. And when we asked how he got that name he said it was because his mom's name is Anne. haha get it... Anne's son = Anson. lol.

   

Something else really awesome that happened this week was that we were biking around the park, and these 2 ladies kind of waved us down. One of them was a member of another ward in Taiwan, and she wanted us to teach her friend that lived in our area. She was not sure how to get a hold of us, so she decided to go to the park, and we ran into her there. Granted we do go to that park often, but it was still a cool miracle. Also while we were talking to her, some white people biked by and one of them yelled "it's a cult". haha but nobody could understand except for us anyway.

  

 One thing that I have been working on is trying to be more bold with people. I am not a big fan of just walking up to some random person and talking to them. But the lord truly does bless me with courage often, and helps me to know of the things that I should say. My advice to all of you would be if you know it's true, then don't be afraid to share it. Love you all!!

   

-- 

博長老 Elder Bosco

week #27

This week I have officially been in Taiwan for 4 months, and on the mission for 6. 1/4 of the way done!?! it is crazy how fast time flies. The mission has been such a great blessing, and it will probably only go faster from now on, but I am super excited for this next year & 1/2! Sorry no baptisms this week, but we should have one next week!

 This week we were able to have interviews with President Teh. It is such a great blessing to have a member of the Quorum of the 70 as your mission president. He talked to me about developing more love and charity for the people. Sometimes it is hard to wake up everyday at 6:30 with a bursting desire to do the work, but if you have charity and you love the people then you will have that desire to do the work because you will want them to hear the message of the restoration.

We have an investigator named 林 (same last name as Jeremy Lin the basketball player). He works 2 jobs, and has to care for his wife for 2 hours every day because she was injured in a car accident. They had a lesson with him on tithing (I was not there because of exchanges). When they talked to him about paying tithing, he said that if this was something that God wanted him to do then he would do it. It has been so great to see how the message of the Gospel has blessed his life, and it is so great to see his faith progress. Also when we taught the 10 commandments he told us that he used to have 600 gods, but now he only has 1. haha he is so awesome!

 I was reading in Mosiah 24 this week. I love this chapter because it teaches us that The Lord will not make it so we don't go through trials, but he always remembers the covenants that he makes with us. So if we always remember him, pray, keep his commandments, etc... then he will give us the strength to overcome our trials.
 Love you all! --
 博長老 Elder Bosco Taiwan Taichung Mission 16-18

yes...he bought the 6 lb. bag of gummy bears from Costco!

Week #26

Today has been a crazy week of ups and downs. To start off with the bad news. Two of our investigators that were scheduled to be baptized this month disappeared. They stopped answering our calls and we haven't been able to contact them for a while.

But on the bright side, MEGAN PASSED HER BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW! It has been amazing to see her testimony grow and to see all of the improvement that she has made. Because she is a tutor, and in Taiwan everyone has there "finals" this week, she will be getting baptized next week, but I am still so excited.

 This week I actually got to do yard work type service in Taiwan, which is super rare. First of all, nobody has any sort of lawn or anything, and second it is hard to find service opportunities sometimes. We just cut down some branches and cleared some weeds, but it was really fun. I never understood why Dallin and Wesley wanted to mow the lawn so bad when they got home, but now I completely understand.

 We started meeting with a lady this week that is a referral from a member's daughter who is serving a mission in Taipei. She does not know a lot about God and Jesus, but she is willing to learn and do the things that we invite her to do. Investigators like that are the best cause you know that they have real intent. She even started of her first prayer by saying "天上的父。你好 (Heavenly Father. Hello). Which means she treats prayer like we all should, a literal communication with our Father in Heaven.

Being away from my family has made me so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven, who allows me to talk to him everyday through prayer. When I pray I can truly feel the Spirit and I know that He is always with me.
-- 博長老 Elder Bosco
Taiwan Taichung Mission 16-18

Our Zone

Week #25 January 1 2017

Happy New Year!
I can't believe that it is already 2017. It is crazy that for this whole year I will be in Taiwan. I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for me this year.

 This week has been a little bit difficult because some of our most progressing investigators have stopped answering our phone calls. But we still have some great investigators, and I have really seen how the Gospel has changed their lives. Although I have been a member my whole life, the Gospel continues to change my life every day.
 We helped this one family move in to our ward the other day. He said he had served in this mission about 5 years ago, so I asked him if he knew an Elder Mix. [Carter Mix is one of our neighbors who also served in this mission]And he said that he was trained by Elder Mix! It is crazy the connections that you can make half way around the world.

 Sorry that this letter is also really short, but sometimes to me it feels like nothing new happens each week. But I love being able to represent the Lord everyday.

I know that this is truly his church. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that we will get closer to God by reading it.
I hope you all have a great 2017. I know I will!

 -- 博長老 Elder Bosco